Shout Outs!

I was recently surprised by two members here. This community is full of stand up gentlemen and generous kind hearts. First I'd like to thank Jim (Fnord) for sending me a great smoker, a beautiful G.H.B. London Made. It was a great gift and will serve a great spot in my rotation. I will be reminded of the great friends I have in the pipe brotherhood every time I smoke it.

Next I'd like to thank another greatly generous member Bob (Rmbittner). Bob decided to bomb me and blow up my cellar with an array of awesome blends! Bob gifted me tins of G. L. Pease Ashbury, Westminster, Odyssey, Caravan, and Jack Knife Plug, Mclelland Datk Star '06 and 3 Oaks Syrian, and about 2Oz of Stonehaven '07! Thank you Bob for diversifying my cellar and contributing to the journey of finding a favorite blend. I'll be posting up some reviews as I try the new blends out, I can't wait!

The people of this forum are of a differnet breed. When I first stated, I made a post asking how to fix a stem on a pipe I got off ebay. A member, Manytrees, sent me a Pm asking if I would like a a Falcon. I graciously accepted, and he sent not only the Falcon, but a LL Bean Billiard and a nice bag of Boswells Countryside that was aged 2 years. The baccy was damn good as are the pipes. I'll never get rid of. them

As long as I got a pipe full of baccy and a nose full of snuff, I'm a happy camper
Cigarettes are an addiction, cigars are a hobby, pipes are a religion

Thanks for the heads-up, Kevin! I'm actually pretty thin-skinned, so I probably take more things to heart than a lot of other guys here. I'm also still trying to come to terms with the personalities and expectations of Forum participants.

I am discovering, though, that not all sections of the site are as . . . well, I'll just say "welcoming" as others. But I also probably need to settle down and stop posting quite so much; my initial enthusiasm for the site led me to comment on some things that got unexpectedly negative responses. . . making me think I haven't quite figured out the community well enough yet to dig in as much as I have been.